It Could Have Been Me
by yesliterally
Summary: A dramatic incident involving Meredith causes Alex to confront his feelings for Izzie. Alex/Izzie pairing, Alex/Izzie/Meredith friendship. Set sometime after season 3, may have slight AU timeline.


**It Could Have Been Me**

This is probably a one-shot. Set after Season 3, I guess. Derek and Meredith are not together of course. I was always intrigued by the dynamic of Meredith, Izzie and Alex living together and his relationship with the two women. This kind of plays off of that.

Alex/Izzie pairing, Alex/Izzie/Meredith friendship

I don't own Grey's, because if I did, Ava would have died in the ferryboat crash. Shondland owns everything.

* * *

"I baked cookies," Izzie said as she walked into Alex's room holding a tray, two mugs and a nearly empty carton of milk.

"Oh, no. What's wrong. Why are you baking?" he asked, forgetting to be mad at her for not knocking. "Did something happen?"

He watched her from his place on the bed, medical journal open in his lap, dressed only in a pair of jeans. He couldn't help but notice how adorable she looked in her grey pajama bottoms and tiny white tank top, hair in a ratty ponytail on top of her head. She placed the tray of still-steaming chocolate chip cookies beside her and used the bedside table to pour the two glasses of milk.

"Nope. Just bored. And then Meredith brought some guy home from the bar, so I couldn't talk to her, so I decided to bring you some cookies."

"There are some definite advantages to living with a woman who bakes," Alex said as he took a bite of the tasty treat. "Hot! Still hot!"

Izzie giggled as he gulped down half of his glass of milk.

"Sorry about that."

He scowled at her, but then let it go.

"So Meredith brought home another guy? Was she completely drunk this time or ..."

"Wasted."

"If people only knew how much their surgeons drank, they'd never trust us." She giggled as he took a smaller bite of his now cooled cookie. "Cookies are good, Iz."

"Thanks."

They heard a thud from the direction of Meredith's room.

"It's going to be one of those nights isn't it?"

The blonde looked at him with a grin. "Yeah, but at least you are all the way down the hall. I'm a lot closer to her room."

"You can crash here whenever you want to." He wiggled his eyebrows at her suggestively. She rolled her eyes and giggled at him, thankful that they were getting back to the friendship that they had before Olivia, before Denny ... before it all. She hoped they could continue to move past it. To where she didn't know.

"STOP IT! GET OFF OF ME!!"

The scream from Meredith's room shattered the flirtation, causing both Izzie and Alex to freeze momentarily. Within milliseconds, Alex was off his bed and into the hallway, Izzie right behind him.

"I SAID NO!"

After finding the door locked, Alex slammed himself into the door, sending the knob and part of the frame clattering to the floor as the door gave way. A man they had never seen before had Meredith pinned to the floor, her lip gushing blood. The noise startled the man and he froze long enough for Alex to grab him by the shoulders and pull him off of the woman in tears on the floor.

Alex slammed the man into the wall, hands around his throat.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, you son of a bitch!"

The man couldn't say anything because of the forecful hands cutting off his oxygen.

"What have you got to say for yourself!"

"Alex! Stop!"

"Meredith, this guy was attacking you."

"I know!" she said from the floor as Izzie sat down beside her and started checking out her busted lip. "Don't hurt him ... just ... get him out of here. Please!"

His eyes moved and met Izzie's and she silently pleaded with him to do as Meredith had said. He sighed, backed down, releasing the man. The stranger was gasping for air as Alex grabbed his arm and pushed him towards the hallway and down the stairs.

Izzie watched as they went and then turned her focus back to her friend.

"God, Meredith. Are you hurt anywhere else?"

"No."

"He didn't ... " she couldn't finish.

"No. He was going to, but you guys came in and ... " The alcohol from earlier in the evening had suddenly worn off.

She dissolved back into tears, leaning into her roommate's shoulder for comfort. They heard the front door slam and lock, and Alex's footsteps came towards them.

He entered the bedroom and moved to join Izzie on the floor. He knelt in front of the two women.

"Hey. You okay?" he asked as he touched Meredith's cheek and turned her to face him. He wanted a better look at the gash on her lip.

"I'm fine," she responded and averted her eyes. He looked to Izzie for confirmation.

"The laceration is superficial. She doesn't need stitches."

"I just want to take a shower and go to bed, if you don't mind. I'm just shaken up. Please don't make a big deal of this. I just ... I need to ... please just go."

They stood and helped Meredith to her feet.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Alex, really. I'm fine." She wiped the last of her tears away and began to walk toward the master bathroom. She paused and turned around. "Thank you for helping me. Now please just let me be."

The bathroom door shut and they heard her slide down to the floor, sobbing again. Izzie immediately headed to the bathroom door, but Alex stopped her by grabing hold of her elbow.

"What?!" she hissed.

"Leave her alone, Iz."

He pulled her out into the hallway and closed the bedroom door as best he could with the knob broken.

"She shouldn't be alone right now. She was attacked. That guy was going to ... he was about to ..." Izzie was unable to control her emotions by that point and was shaking.

Alex pulled her into a hug as she began to cry onto his shirtless shoulder. He knew she was just scared for Meredith and her nerves had just gotten the best of her. He rubbed her back for a few minutes while she regained her composure.

She pushed back from him slightly, still in his arms, so that she could look him in the eyes.

"Alex, if you hadn't been here I don't know what I would have done."

His mind went places he didn't want it to go when she said that. What if he hadn't been there. What if Izzie tried to stop it herself and the jerk turned on her. What if it had been Izzie who was on the floor when he walked in. That thought scared him more than he thought it would.

Izzie saw his eyes darken.

She backed out of his grip and studied him.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just promise me, if that ever happens again, that you won't do anything stupid."

"What do you mean?"

He moved toward her, putting his hands on her shoulders.

"If Meredith puts herself in that situation again, and you're alone, go in your room and lock the door. Call the police. Just don't put yourself in a bad position. I don't want anything to happen to you."

A small smile and giggle escaped Izzie's lips.

"Why Alex, between rescuing Meredith and worrying about me, you've just turned into a regular knight-in-shining-armor tonight."

He didn't return the humor. His eyes stayed dark.

"I'm serious, Iz."

Izzie was speechless.

"Oh. Okay," she finally said, confused. She turned to go into her bedroom, pausing briefly in the door.

She looked back at him, still standing in the hallway. Their eyes met for a long moment before she moved fully into her room, shutting the door behind her.

Alex retreated to his own room at the end of the hallway and closed his door. The adrenaline from a few moments earlier was still pumping through his body, and he shakily sat down on his bed, the last few minutes replaying in his head.

The image of Meredith on the floor, with that guy on top of her, it made him furious. He had come to see her as a sister since he had been living there. He knew that if anything had happened to her, he would have blamed himself for either not being there or not paying attention. How some men in the world treated women, it really pissed him off. Sure he could be a jerk himself. He knew that. But he also knows that he could never, ever, force himself on a woman. He didn't have it in him, and he was glad.

He glanced around his room and saw the empty milk carton, the mugs on the table and the tray of cold cookies still in place on the bed.

Izzie.

His mind had a way of playing sick jokes on him, and for a moment, it was Izzie lying there, instead of Meredith. Just the thought of that made his heart rate soar. He couldn't imagine what his reaction would have been if he had burst into a room and seen a man forcing himself on her, hearing her scream for help and blood dripping down her face. He probably would have killed the man without a second thought. No. He would have ... no probably about it.

He took a deep breath and moved to pick up the things Izzie had left behind. He gathered up everything and walked downstairs to the kitchen. He put the cookies in the cookie jar, threw away the milk carton and placed the mugs in the sink. Before heading back upstairs, he checked the locks on all the doors, just to be sure.

Turned the corner into his bedroom, he saw a blonde goddess curled up on his mattress.

"Iz?"

"I had an invitation to crash here whenever I wanted to. ... If that's okay with you."

"It's fine."

He moved across the room, stripped down to his boxers and slipped into the bed right next to her. She changed position slightly until her head was resting on his shoulder and his arm was around her back.

"You okay?" he asked gently.

"Yeah, just a little shaken up." She paused for a moment. "It could have been me."

"You don't usually put yourself in that situation."

"What? Sleeping with inappropriate men? I can think of a few who might qualfiy," she said, a slight teasing returning to her voice.

"Funny. Very funny, Iz."

"Seriously, though. It could have been me, and I am glad that you live here now. It's nice to know that if something like that ever happens again, with Meredith or me, that we have someone who will escort the jerk out the door."

He sat up a little bit and looked at her in the eyes.

"Izzie, if it had been you laying there, I wouldn't have scared him a little and thrown him out. You know that right?"

She looked at him more than a little confused.

"I probably would have killed the guy," he confessed. "The thought of someone doing that to you ... hurting you like that ... terrifies me. I don't know what we are right now, but I do know that I care about you. I care about Meredith, but to see another man take a piece of you away would kill me."

She smiled at him and put a hand to his cheek.

"Thank you."

He lay back down and put his arms around her, tighter than before, wishing he could always keep her this safe.


End file.
